FA Women's Cup  : 2007-2008

Womens FA Cup 1st qualifying round

BRENTWOOD LADIES  5

SAFFRON WALDEN LADIES  1

The Carr and Bircher Saffron Walden Ladies made an abrupt exit from the Womens FA Cup as they were convincingly beaten in a game that they should have won.

All of the early possession was in favour of Walden as they passed the ball around well and worked together to prevent Brentwood from making any attacking contributions to the initial stages of the game.

A momentary lapse of concentration in the Walden defence however allowed Brentwood to capitalise on the defensive error to open the scoring against the run of play.

Instead of spurring Walden on to amend for the mistakes that gifted Brentwood the lead the all round Walden performance took a negative turn as Brentwood enjoyed more possession and had more chances on goal.  The home side were soon to double their lead as they again reacted quicker to a loose ball to make it 2-0 and then a third soft goal was scored shortly before half-time.

A stern managerial team talk spurned Walden on in the second half and Andi Wright managed to pull a goal back for the visitors after some patient build up play.  A dramatic FA Cup fightback was not on the cards however as Brentwood added a fourth then finished off Waldens dreams of a lucrative cup run by scoring with a neat lob from the edge of the box.

FA Cup Preliminary Round

On the day when Saffron Walden Town Mayor Sarfraz Anjum visited Catons Lane to meet the players and coaching staff on what is the tenth anniversary season for the club, the ladies provided more reasons for celebrations as they booked their place in the next qualifying round of the Womens FA Cup.

Initially it looked as though Garston might have the egde over Walden as they took an early lead through an unstoppable strike from the edge of the box.  The resilient Walden team though refused to sit back and be overawed by the occasion and equalised through Andi Wright several minutes later only for the goal to be disallowed for a questionable offside.  When Walden regained possession moments later an intricate move involving Amie Jones and Wright ended with Amanda Potter slotting the ball home at the near post.

Claire Gooch at right back had a fantastic game and constantly frustrated her marker whilst Kim Jeffery in the heart of the defence was characteristically solid.  Garston had chances to equalise but keepr Jackie Frost pulled off several good saves to keep the scores level.

The breakthrough for Walden came just before half time as Jones chased down a pass to beat the keeper and deservedly help Walden to the lead in the game.

Garston started the second half more determined and forced a lot of pressure onto the Walden backline, but Walden stood their ground well and were equal to the challenge.

Sharon Groome was a lively threat up front and laid the ball off well to bring Vicky Maccaffrey into the game and it was from pressure from Groome that a corner was forced in the 70^th minute.  The subsequent delivery met the head of Sharon Harrison who powered it home to give the two goal cushion.

To their credit Garston never gave up and always felt that they could get something from the game and it was from this perserverance that  a wildly struck ball was harshly adjudged to have hit substitute Karli Hammond on the arm. The resulting penalty was blasted into the top corner of the net to set up a tense finish.  The FA Cup is afterall supposed to encourage games of drama and high tension and this game was to be no different as Garston continued to pressure the Walden goal right up to the welcoming sound of the final whistle that signalled Waldens progression to the next round.